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health care policy

It’s hard to open any health-related publication these days and not find stories about accountable care organizations (ACOs). Commentary ranges from extolling ACOs as our last, best hope for achieving high-value care in the U.S., to others criticizing ACOs as a thinly disguised return to the 1990s model of managed care and HMOs.

While it’s too early to judge how effectively these provider-based organizations that assume greater financial risk for health care outcomes will ultimately perform, many are hopeful that ACOs offer a promising vehicle for achieving the elusive Triple Aim goal of health reform — achieving higher clinical quality and better experience of care with lower cost trends.

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